Garment closure



May 2, 1950 P. c. MACREDES GARMENT CLOSURE Filed Sept. 4,

FIG. l-A

"FIG. I

PHILLIP C. MACRIDES INVENTOR.

Patented May 2, 195%) ESTATES aster GARMENT OLD SURE of New-York Applicationsepitember 4, 1947, Serial No. 772;087

ZClaims. v 11 "This invention :relates' togarmenits "andparticu'lariy closure ior slits-therein. 'Asan example, the free end of the sleeve of an outer slintis commonly slit "from the cuff inwardly ,iorat least about a or -5 inches, and "this slit "in the sleeve commonly faced with a ribbon-likelstrip of fabric .to form .a closure.

.An objectof this invention is'to provide'an improved closure for a slit in a garment part, vAwhich may be easily -and readily applied, with which the costof application to the garment part will be relatively .low,-which requires- .a minimum of operations by the -.operator, which whenapplied will have .a substantial-overlapalongthe sides ,ofithe s'litxsosas tomake .aneffectiyeclosure, 1

which will have {an exceptionally .fismooth 3X1- eterior to facilitate ironing ,of' the {garment part, which will be visually insignificant .inEappeara'nce .so that the presence of :therslit will be as inconspicuous as possible, which may The employed for regular or French cuffs, which will .utilize a ;min-

imum of fabric, and which will not require :the use of unusually skilled sewing r-machinesoperators.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved and simplified "closure for slits .in garment parts, which :is :zexceptionally simple, neat'andlattractivein appearance, which wiibgive :snbstantial aclosurezfor the ;slit,which will :facilitate ironing of the garment part, and which will he relatively :simple, andiinexpensive.

Another object of ithe inventien fisito (provide an improved method of facing :slits Iin- :garment :parts .to aprovideiarclosureffor the :slit, which beeasily andtrapidlyiappliedatortheigarment part M at Zthe'--slit, iby' the usual :apparatus, randwhich requiresia minimumrnumoer o'f operationsiby lthe Workman.

Other 'objec'ts :andfiadvantagesrwill be -:apparent :firoxnthe following description :of one embodi- :ment o'i "the inventiong and the novel ieatures wvill be particularly pointed 'out herelna fter in con- 'neetion with the appended claims.

.2 Fig. 2--i$.is"-a section of the same, approxi- :-'mately along the :1inel:G-,-.of;Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 :is 'a" view, somewhatesimi'lar to Fig. 2, of the inside face 'o'f' zthexuncomp'leted sleeve, which 6 has been loodilywotated clockwise 290 from the position ofFigxZ, *and iwith the upper half of the facing strip rnoved in'ithe' direction of the Arrow JGiinFigNZsO as ftodorI-ing the 'halves of the facings somewhat together; Fig. 4 is a view similartoFig. 3, but withthat :end -of thesleeve' iurther' man-ipulated and a further step performed thereon;

"Fig.-4A is 'a section through the same, appmXimateIyaIQng the line D-"D of Fig. 4; I

Fig. 5 'isa view-eiterthe part shown in Fig. 4 ha-sheen reversed to' bringthe opposite face into view and the folded up :part of the sleeve along the slit has been turned down;

Fig. "6 is a view of the completed end of the sleeve and Fig. 7 is a section of'the closure of the same, :itaken:approximately-along the line 1-! of Fig. '7. "Enthe 'illustrated embodiment of the invention theimprovements*have been incorporated in the 5 free endof thesleeverof a man's outer shirt, and

a number of intermediate steps required in making-the closure :are especially illustrated. It has laeeneustomary in facing thes'lit 'in the free end 05 a mansoutershirtsleeve, for example, toap- .30 ply the iacing' before 'the cuff is attached, ac-

cording'to'WhiGhthe-free end ofthe sleeve is first slit or cut from itsiree end in-adirection lengthwise-of the-sleeve for-at'leastaboutA or 5 inches, *a-nd then the slit-is opened until the sides of the 5 slitmakea-substantial angle, suohas anapproxir. 1ate1y90" or 180 angle. The facing is then'ap- =plied'to the sides -of the-s1it=by stitchingit thereto, *andes'the facingstrip is *fed to the sleeve for stitching, "a folding device, not shown but well- 40 known in the art, is usually employed in order to 1-fold theia'cing stripleng'thw'ise and also inturnthe side edges ofthestrip so as to receive betweenithe iziturnededgespthe marginal edge 'of the*-sleeve along' the slit. "I30 this extent I the A5 mrOce'dure is broadly old.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 1- A and Fig. '1--B, the fabric '10 which-forms "the free end of the sleeve-is slitin-theusualmanner, andthe sides -H and I2 of-the usual'slitare'separateduntil they *form:a'rsubstantiallyistraight line or angle as'shown in"Fig.*-1. "The'visibleiace of the 'fabric ffllisjnowtheinsiderace'ofithe sleeve. When the "sides I l and i2 ofthe'slitare moved apart in this :manner, :to the approximately straight line po- 5 "sition shown'intFig. L'the fabric may wrinkle somewhat with somewhat radially extending ribs or creases [3, as shown in Fig. l and 2, with the center of the radiation at the inner end M of the slit. With the slit opened in this manner, the free end of the sleeve is fed to a sewing machine simultaneously with a ribbon like facing strip l5 which passes through a folding device, as is usual in the application of facings to sleeves, which progressively folds the facing strip I5 lengthwise approximately midway of its width, and also progressively inturns the side edges of the strip at the same time.

This folding device not only folds the facing strip in this manner, but it guides it into proper position to receive, between its inturned edges, the marginal edge of the sleeve along the slit, as shown. in Fig. 1. The facing strip so placed on the sleeve is secured thereto such as by a sewing operation in which a line of stitching l6 passes through the facing strip, the inturned side edges, and the marginal edge of the sleeve along the slit. The facing strip is at least twice as long as the length of the slit, so that after it has been applied and stitched to the sleeve along the sides of the slit, in succession, the sleeve end and the attached facing will appear as in Fig. 2.

As shown in Fig. l-A the side edges I! of the facing strip l5 are first inturned by folding them back upon the same face of the strip and then the facing strip was then further folded along a lengthwise line midway between the side edges, and guided into embracing relation to the edge of the slit as shown in Fig. 1. As the folded facing strip reaches the desired relation with respect to the end of the sleeve along the slit, the sewing machine, not shown, applies the straight line of stitching it which passes through both layers of each half of the folded facing strip and through the marginal edge of the sleeve adjacent the slit. Preferably the facing strip is of such width that after the inturning of its side edges and folding lengthwise, and after stitching through the fabric along the slit, the facing thus provided will extend from about to beyond the received edge of the slit.

After the facing has been stitched to the sleeve and along the slits in succession, as just explained, the sleeve is turned clockwise for about 90 from the position shown in Fig. 2 into the position shown in Fig. 3. and at the same time or immediately thereafter, the upper half of the facing as viewed in Fig. 2, is rotated about the inner slit end l4, generally in the direction of the arrow G in Fig. 2. so as to bring back towards each other the sides I! and I2 of the slit which had been separated in order to apply the facing to the sides of the slit in succession. This brings the two half-lengths of the facing strip towards each other, as shown in Fig. 3.

After the sides of the slit have been brought approximately together in the Fig. 3 position, the left hand half length of the facing strip (Fig. 3) and the part of the sleeve fabric [0 immediately adjoining it, are folded upwardly in the direction of arrow H into the position shown in Fig. 4; and at the tame time the other or right half length of the facing strip is folded over upon the inside face of the sleeve, approximately along the line of stitching l6, but with the line of fold solely in the fabric H3 close to its attachment to the facing strip, as shown in the enlarged section of Fig. 4A. At this time the facing strip IE will be in a straight line. The operator then stitches together, by a short line of stitching I8, the folded facing strip l5, its inturned edges and the portion of the fabric if] received between them. This stitching i8 is substantially at the inner end of the slit and runs in a direction cross-wise of the length of the facing strip, but not further than the width of the folded facing strip as applied to the fabric Hi. As will be observed from Fig. 4, the line of stitching i8, is a short line or row, which is transverse to the length of strip l5 and directly connects the strip and the garment part against which it is folded, solely adjacent or in alignment with the closed end of the slit where the strip is to be folded transversely of its length. The strip l5 is free of other transverse stitching directly between its portions that extend along opposite sides of the slit when they are superposed by transverse folding of the strip. With this arrangement, when the strip is opened out approximately straight and its ends are pulled in opposite directions endwise, the pulling forces will be absorbed solely by. the strip and the transverse stitching l8 will be substantially free of such pulling forces.

The apex or inner or closed end of the slit is a guide for locating the stitching l8, and determines the line of fold when the ends of the strip l5 are brought over into superposed relation, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The stitching l8 penetrates the garment at only one side of the slit. If opposite sides of the folded strip were stitched together away from the line of transverse fold of the facing strip, the endwise pulls on the facing strip would be absorbed by that extra line of stitching, instead of the facing strip itself, and this would be likely to pull the stitching loose, with damage to the fabric, and the superposed halves of the strip would not then retain their folded, fiat, smooth relation. The single line of stitching it is entirely adequate for its purpose and it requires considerable less time and effort to apply than when the transverse stitching is applied away from the transverse fold in the facing strip. This stitching I8, is applied while the facing strip is in its straight-out position as shown in Fig. 4, which is a relatively simple operation. If the facing strip is folded upon itself first, as in Fig. 5, before the transverse stitching i8 is applied, it is difficult to locate the stitching l8 exactly at the line of fold and at the closed end of the slit, without danger of damaging the fabric at the line of fold.

The operator then moves the upper half length of the applied facing strip 15 forwardly and downwardly in Fig. l, until it lies directly over and abuts face to face with the lower half length of the facing strip, after which the sleeve is turned to bring the opposite face of the sleeve, which is to be the outside face of the sleeve, forwardly or into view as shown in Fig. 5. When this is done the outside face of the sleeve fabric ill will be in view, and the half of the applied facing strip, which was the lower half length that was folded back upon itself in Fig. 4, is now the top or outer stretch of the superposed half lengths of the facing strip, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. In Fig. 5 it will be noted that the lower corner of the outer half length of the facing strip has been lifted slightly to show its identity and position. The relation of the superposed half lengths of the applied facing strip to each other and to the fabric ID is shown in Fig. 7. The next operation is to attach the cuff IS in the usual manner which completes the sleeve.

To facilitate an understanding of the manipulation of the facing strip, the letters W X, Y and Z have been shown on the drawing in Figs. 2 to 5, as applied to faces or surfaces of the facing.

When any of these letters is in full lines, it indicates that that face of the facing is in full view, but if the letter is formed of broken or dash lines, it is to indicate that that face of the facing is hidden. For example, in Fig. 2 the face or surface X on the upper half length of the facing and the face or surface Y of the lower half length of that facing are both visible. The letters W and Z formed of broken or dash lines show that the opposite faces to which they are applied are then invisible or hidden. When the fabric is turned into the Fig. 3 position and the portions along the slit turned over as shown, the faces W and Z on the facing half lengths will become visible and the faces X and Y are then hidden from direct view; when the fabric is further manipulated. to the Fig. 4 position, the faces W and Z remain visible. When the fabric of the sleeve is reversed, as in Fig. 5, the faces X and Z are outermost, and the face W abuts the face Z.

It will be observed that there are only two lines of stitching employed and, therefore, only two stitching operations are necessary to face the sleeve. The first stitching operation is to attach the facing strip to the opened slit by a single straight-line stitching operation shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the second operation to apply the short length of stitching l8 as shown in Fig. 4. These are two very simple operations which can be quickly performed, and the manual manipulations of the sleeve in applying the facing are small in number and relatively simple. As shown in Fig. 6 it will be observed. that there is no external seam or layer at the inner end of the facing, that is, at the inner end of the slit, which will interfere with the free gliding of the iron over the shirt sleeve, and it will also be observed that there is no necessity for matching patterns or stripes in applying the facing which is normally invisible after application. Therefore, when applying the facing strip it is not necessary to match the pattern of the facing with that of the sleeve. It will also be observed, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7, that there is a very substantial overlap provided at the facing, so that if the sleeve is slackened in use there is no unattractive gap exposing the arm therethrough. Thus, this facing normally is practically unnoticed, there is no unattractive gap, and the sleeve is more easily ironed. Because of the small number of lines of stitching and of manual manipulating operations, the cost of facing the sleeve is relatively small. Since the only two stitching operations are for straight line stitches, it is not necessary to employ the most highly skilled sewing machine operators in order to apply this facing.

The term regular cuff as used herein, is intended to mean one which is unfolded and overlaps with a button and buttonhole fastening.

The term French cuff is intended to mean one which is longer along the arm, but is folded back midway of its length on the arm to form a double layer cuff, and the opposite sides are coupled by cuff links.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A facing for a slit in a garment part to form a closure therefor which comprises the combination with said garment part having a slit from an edge thereof, of a strip of ribbon-like facing material doubled by a lengthwise fold and with the free side edges of the strip also inturned and receiving between them the marginal edge portions of said slit in end to end succession, said inturned side edges of the strip and the marginal edge portions therebetween being secured together for substantially their full length, that part of said strip which is attached to the garment part at one side of the slit being folded along that side of the slit beneath that garment part to which it is directly attached, and a row of stitching running transverse to the length of the strip adjacent to the closed end of the slit and connecting only that portion of the strip along one side of the slit solely to that portion of the garment beneath which it is folded, said strip being free of other transverse stitching directly between opposite sides of the slit, and the portions of the strip along opposite sides of the slit being unconnected by stitching directly between them, whereby when the strip is opened out approximately straight, and its ends are pulled in opposite directions endwise, the pulling forces will be absorbed solely by the strip and said transverse stitching will be substantially free of the pulling forces.

2. A facing for a slit in a garment part to form a closure therefor which comprises the combination with said garment part having a slit from an edge thereof, of a strip of ribbon-like facing material doubled by a lengthwise fold and with the free side edges of the strip also inturned and receiving between them the marginal edge portions of said slit in end to end succession, said inturned side edges of the strip and the marginal edge portions therebetween being secured together for substantially their full length, that part of said strip which is attached to the garment part at one side of the slit, being folded along that same side of the slit beneath that garment part to which it is directly attached, and stitching running transversely to the length of the strip and directly connecting the strip and the garment part beneath which it is folded, solely in alignment with the closed end of the slit where the strip is to be folded transversely of its length, said strip being free of other transverse stitching directly between its portions that extend along opposite sides of the slit when they are superposed by said transverse folding, whereby when the strip is opened out approximately straight and its ends are pulled in opposite directions endwise, the pulling forces will be absorbed solely by the strip and said transverse stitching will be substantially free of such pulling forces.

PHILIP C. MACRIDES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record. in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,461,679 Roggen July 10, 1923 

